Noise Factory (group)

Last updated

Noise Factory
Genres Breakbeat hardcore, jungle
Years active1991–1994
Labels3rd Party, Ibiza, Kemet, Tam Tam, XL Recordings
Past membersJames Stephens
Terry Turner
Kevin Mulqueen

Noise Factory were a British breakbeat hardcore and jungle group from Tottenham, North London active in the early 1990s. The group is credited as being pivotal in the transition between hardcore and jungle music.

Contents

History

In 1991 James Stephens and Neil Dunkley, who ran a studio together at the time, recently became acquainted with Paul Ibiza of Ibiza Records. They helped him set up his new studio which consisted of an Akai 950 sampler an Atari ST computer running Cubase and various other pieces of studio equipment. After a few sessions of creating beats and experimenting with samples at Paul Ibizas studio Stephens decided on the name 'Noise Factory' bringing in Kevin Mulqueen and Terry Turner to form the group along with Dunkley. Paul Ibiza then invited Noise Factory to release tracks on his then new label Ibiza Records as he was already a well established name in the rave scene at that time. Noise Factory released their first track, "Box Bass" in 1991. The track featured a reggae sub-bass, which was almost unheard of at the time. [1] [2] [3] [4]

After releasing several tracks on the Ibiza label Stephens, Turner and Mulqueen set up their own label '3rd Party Records' in early 1992. They also had one short lived release on Tam Tam records in early 1992 titled “behold the jungle/we can". They later re-issued “behold the jungle” on 3rd party a few months later. At this point Dunkley had already left the group but later went on to set up his own label Redskins records.

Stephens would also help set up the 'Kemet' record label with Mark Ranger aka ‘Mark X’ sometime between 1992-93.

Noise Factory's first release on their 3rd Party label was the EP "My Mind" featuring the title track "My Mind", “Be Free" and "Breakage #1" all of which would be pivotal in the early development of jungle and would be later remixed by the group several times. [2] The group would continue to release singles such as "the fire", which sampled Fleetwood Mac's "Sara". [5] [6]

“Be Free” was also licensed to XL records in mid 1992 and released on a four track EP titled “fourplay” vol 1 alongside three other artists.

Noise factory’s own studio from 1991-93 where their later Ibiza tracks and the majority of their 3rd party tracks were produced was based in Stephens flat on the Nightingale estate in Lower Clapton East London. The Nightingale estate was also home to some of the main jungle and drum and bass pirate radio stations in London at that time which included Weekend Rush 92.3, Defection 89.4 and Kool FM 94.5 (later 94.6). Noise factory would often give Defection early release exclusives of their tracks. Terry Tee (Turner) would occasionally guest DJ on Defection and Chatta B would also MC on the station quite frequently.

In 1993, The Capsule EP was released. The track "Breakage #4" became a huge hit with DJs, who according to Vice "played it to death". [7] The track was up to 20 BPM faster than other tracks at the time, and would prove to be an important record in the transition from hardcore to jungle. [5] [8] Noise Factory proceeded to release several 12" singles that would set a blueprint for the emerging scene. [2] [9] Additionally, a side project known as Straight from the Bedroom was launched, releasing records from not only themselves, but also other up-and-coming jungle producers. [10]

A final collaboration between Stephens and Turner would be on "Dreams", released on Kemet Records' "Revelation Part 2" EP. Stephens would maintain a solo career under the name Family of Intelligence. [2] [5] . Terry Tee (Turner) has had his own label 'Knowledge and Wisdom' for a number of years and has released tracks sporadically on it.

Noise Factory was briefly revived in 2002, releasing two singles for Three Lions Recordings. [11] Additionally, Terry Tee had resurrected the Straight From the Bedroom side-project in the 2000s to carry nu skool jungle bootlegs. [10]

Members

Selected discography

References

  1. ↑ McQuaid, Ian. "Gone To A Rave #51: Paul Ibiza Gets Real". Ransom Note. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 4 McQuaid, Ian. "Gone To A Rave #41: Kemet & 3rd Party". Ransom Note. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  3. ↑ Hubzin, Ivica (15 July 2014). "Q&A: Digital Niyabinghi". DJ Mag . Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  4. ↑ Deadman, Alex (2 December 2016). "An Interview With Paul Ibiza on the Birth of Jungle". We Love Jungle (Interview). Archived from the original on 15 August 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 Shapiro, Peter (24 June 1999). Drum 'n Bass: The Rough Guide. Rough Guides. p. 109. ISBN   1858284333.
  6. ↑ Reynolds, Simon (19 June 2013). Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture. Routledge. pp. 137–138. ISBN   978-1136783166.
  7. ↑ McQuaid, Ian (4 January 2016). "The Inside Story of the Best Jungle Labels You've Probably Never Heard Of". Vice . Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  8. ↑ Jenkins, Dave (6 April 2012). "Rep Your Roots #1: Jungle". Drum and Bass Arena. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  9. ↑ Reynolds, Simon (4 July 2013). "4: The Second Wave of Rave". Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture. Faber & Faber. ISBN   978-0571289141.
  10. 1 2 "Straight From The Bedroom". Here Come the Drums (Podcast). Podplay. 10 February 2015. Archived from the original on 25 April 2021.
  11. ↑ "Noise Factory: Discography". Discogs . Retrieved 25 April 2021.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.